Helping Hand
by averygirl
Summary: Travis is there for Hanna at a time when she needs him most. Havis, circa S4... Formerly titled "Blank Slate".
1. Chapter 1

**Helping Hand**

_****(Formerly titled "Blank Slate".) Travis reaches out to Hanna after she has a particularly violent run-in with one of A's minions. A Havis story. Slightly AR Season 4. I really, REALLY liked this couple so I wanted to pay tribute to them. No bashing please. I will never apologize for liking who I like. Thanks.****_

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Travis checked his watch yet again. _8:35 p.m._ Hanna should have been here over an hour ago. The hostess at this fancy French restaurant with a name he couldn't pronounce kept giving him the evil eye. Obviously, ordering soda after soda to stall time wasn't cutting it. She wanted him gone so she could give the table to higher-paying customers. The sad thing was that Travis had been prepared to blow three weeks' pay on this place, just to please Hanna. But she wasn't here. Their dates sort of always ended badly, if they got started at all. This one certainly hadn't even gotten off the ground.

When 8:40 rolled around, he saw the hostess throwing him even nastier glares than before. She motioned a waitress over to him and he knew he was really being kicked out. The busty brunette waitress approached him. "Check please," he said, immediately holding out his hand. She put the little black cash tray in his hand and he saw that his four sodas had cost him nearly twenty-five dollars. Oh well. He'd just call this night a bust and go home to his place, say goodnight to his dad, crawl in bed and try not to dream about Hanna - again.

He paid the tab and added a fairly generous tip. He then grabbed his suit jacket and slipped it on. He was out the restaurant door in the next minute and headed to his broken down jalopy in the next. He was just about to open the door when he heard hurried footsteps approaching. He instinctively turned around.

"Hanna?" He said. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Her fancy dress was all muddied and torn and her face was eerily pale. Her lip was split open, too, and she had tracks of blood and grime on her knees.

He ran right to her side. "Hanna, what happened? Talk to me, okay?"

"Travis, am I – am I too late for dinner? I tried to hurry," she said. He didn't know how to respond. She looked so sad, so devastated and also very out of sorts. He closed the distance between them and lightly touched her chin which was spotted with crusted blood.

"Hey, don't worry about dinner. Just tell me – tell me what happened," he said. To his surprise, she sagged and started to topple towards the ground. He caught her underneath the arms. "Hanna, talk to me. Please…. Never mind. You know what? Forget it. Save your strength. I'm getting you to the hospital."

He genuinely was afraid of hurting her but knew she wasn't going to make it any further on her own. He scooped her up in his arms as gently as he could and tucked her against his chest. He walked around to the other side of the car and pried open the passenger door. He leaned inside, depositing Hanna's petite body on the seat. He then ran to the driver's side, opened the door and hopped in. He immediately reached for her hand. It felt cold and clammy to the touch. He was scared. Scared for Hanna and angry at whoever had done this. He figured that a lip didn't just split open on its own.

"Hanna, can you hear me? I'm taking you to the hospital. They'll help you out." He started to pull his cell phone from his pocket as he gunned the engine with his free hand. He pushed down on the number 9 and the number 1 and was about to press the other 1 to call the police when Hanna grabbed for his hand.

"Don't," she said weakly. She was looking at him through blurry eyes.

"Don't call the cops? Hanna, someone –" He choked on the bitter taste of his words. "Someone obviously hurt you. The police can sort this out."

"They can't," Hanna said. "Just call Aria or Emily or Spencer. Just call one of them. They can help me out." She seemed more lucid now but her eyes closed and she sunk against the seat, rolling herself into a tight little ball, pressing her back against the driver's side door.

"Hanna –"

"Please," she whispered. "Call Aria, Em or Spence… I can't talk to anyone else. Not now."

Travis nodded. "Okay. But I don't have any of their phones numbers so-"

"I have their numbers in my phone," Hanna said. "It's in my purse… Wait, where's my purse?" She started to cry then. Fat teardrops rolled down her face. "It's Kate Spade. It's designer. Where's my – where's my purse? They must have- they must have … Oh, A…" She murmured through her tears. She was making no sense to Travis really. Simultaneously he tried to focus on her and watch the road. He was tempted to drive to the hospital against her wishes, but he didn't want to force her to do anything she didn't want to do. She had obviously been pushed around enough for one night.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles were almost white and translucent in the darkness. The thought of someone hurting Hanna … Well, he had never, ever been a violent guy, but he wanted to tear whoever did this into a million pieces with his bare hands.

"It's okay. We can find your purse later, Hanna," he said. "For now, lemme call information and try to find one of your friends' numbers."

Hanna murmured something unintelligible and Travis sighed. He didn't know what to do. But he called information and asked for the number of the Montgomerys of Rosewood. He was quickly informed that the number was unlisted. Next he asked for Spencer Hastings. She was unlisted as well. Finally, he took a chance on Emily Fields and actually got a result. He asked the operator to connect him to the Fields residence and she said she would.

The phone rang three times and then he heard a feminine voice say "Hello?" She sounded wary.

"Emily?"

"Who's calling?" She asked now, sounding more guarded as if she expected the worst every time the phone rang.

"It's Travis. Travis Hobbs from school. I am calling because I've got Hanna with me… We had a date and she showed up late and –"

"Wait, Travis, slow down here. What's going on?"

"Hanna's hurt, Emily. I don't know how it happened or anything but she's all torn up and she doesn't want to go to the hospital. She wants to see you and Spencer and Aria only."

"Is she okay right now?"

Travis glanced at Hanna. "She's kind of… I don't know. Maybe in shock?"

"Wow. Um, okay. Definitely bring her here. I'll call Aria and Spencer and have them come over, too. My parents are not home so just park in the driveway."

"Okay, uh, thanks."

"No problem. Hanna is my friend and I just want her to be okay."

Travis nodded. "Yeah me too. What's your address?"

Emily rattled it off, even giving him directions. Travis said he would be there in ten minutes tops and they disconnected. Travis looked over at Hanna once again. She was either asleep or passed out against the misty windowpane. He wanted to reach out and shake her awake but was oddly afraid to try. He was afraid it would cause her more pain.

Instead he turned on the car heater and cranked it up to high. The only good things about this shitty car were that it had wheels and a working heater. He hoped Hanna would feel warm and protected in here with him somehow.

"Hanna, we're getting help," he said to her. She murmured and he sighed. "You're going to be okay, alright? I'll see to that… some way."


	2. Chapter 2

**_A brand new chapter..._**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Emily was outside waiting on her porch, dancing around anxiously on the balls of her sock-clad feet, when Travis pulled his crap-car up in front of the Fields' house. She immediately flew down the front steps as Travis shut off the engine. He looked over at Hanna. She was murmuring something unintelligible. Her eyes were deeply hooded, her face pale. She was pressed against the steamed up glass.

"Hanna," he said, his voice tremoring a bit, "we're-we're here. At your friend, Emily's. She's going to help you, okay? If you're sure that a hospital really isn't the place for you…" Deep down, he believed that it was. She had horrifying injuries and who knew what she'd really been through tonight. While he had been sitting around ordering drink after drink at a restaurant, she was being hurt.

The thought made him want to puke but he managed not to vomit.

He simply stared at her for a moment. He then reached over and thumbed the rip in her sleeve. "Who did this to you – _why_ would they do this to you?" He wondered, not actually expecting an answer and not getting one either. She was too out of it for that.

He sighed and hopped out of the car. He ran around to the other side where Emily was standing. She said nothing at first as they pulled open the rusted door. They caught a weaving Hanna in their arms.

"I'll bring her in," Travis offered.

Emily nodded. "T-thanks," she murmured. "I can't believe all of this."

"God, me either," Travis said. He effortlessly scooped Hanna up into his arms once more and followed Emily to the front steps. They walked into her living room but he didn't see any of the décor – he couldn't see anything but the darkening bruise on Hanna's cheek.

"Where should I put her?" He asked, tearing his eyes away from that taunting gash and staring questioningly at Emily.

"Upstairs. Can you get her upstairs? I have a first aid kit up there."

"Do you really think a first aid kid is going to fix this?" He asked dubiously. "I think a hospital is the place for her right now."

"She doesn't want that," Emily pointed out. "You said so yourself."

"Still…" Travis shook his head. "What about the police? Should I call them?"

Emily shook her head firmly. "No, don't. At least not until we know exactly what happened to Hanna."

"It seems obvious that –" Travis broke off. He didn't actually want to finish that sentence and guessed that Emily didn't actually want him to either.

"Just come on," Emily said, waving him to the foot of the staircase.

Travis held in a breath as he carried Hanna up the stairs. Emily led him down the hall to a room with a big picture window. For a moment, Travis forced his eyes off Hanna to look out into the darkness. _What a cruel world it is out there,_ he mused. _What a fucking cruel place._

"Set her on the bed," Emily said, cutting into his thoughts. Travis obediently brought Hanna to the princess bed and placed her gingerly upon it. He got a good look at her legs then. They were scratched and there was a trail of caked blood on her knee caps. He cringed and looked at Emily. She had seen it too and she looked as sick as he felt.

"What can I do?" Travis asked.

"Uh… Well, why don't you go home and we'll call you when Hanna is a little more... lucid?"

Travis arched an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Well…" She was dancing awkwardly on the balls of her feet again. "You did the right thing but the girls and I can take it from here."

"I want to stay," Travis said. "No, I _am_ staying. Just until I know … If she will be alright." He knew she might not be alright – how could she after this? - but he just wanted to be here, just in case … Just in case she needed him, even if that seemed an improbable thought right now.

"Fine," Emily said with a long, shuddery sigh. "Just – well, can you stay downstairs while we try to make sense of this? She will need help cleaning up and I know Hanna – she will never forgive us if she let you see her looking like that." She laughed bitterly. "Oh god, Han, oh Han," she whispered.

"Yeah, fine," Travis agreed. He looked at Hanna one more time, whispered, "_Please be okay",_ and then hurried out.

His steps only slowed when he reached the top of the staircase and he sagged against the railing for a long moment. He felt sick and angry and confused and … out of sorts. This had been the night from hell. And he wondered… What if things just got worse? He had an odd feeling that they just might - _if that were even possible._

XoXoXo

Emily was holding fast to Hanna's hand when Aria and Spencer came crashing into her bedroom. Hanna was asleep for the moment – or passed out – but she looked sickly pale and broken as she lay curled up in a ball on the plush mattress. Emily hated this; she hated the whole thing.

"_Ohmigod,"_ Spencer and Aria gasped in time as they took in the sight of Hanna's cuts and the blood crusted on her knees.

"What the hell happened?" Aria asked. Emily saw tears swimming in the depths of her eyes.

"She was attacked," Spencer said tersely. "Obviously, very badly." She moved to Hanna and lightly took her by the other hand.

"Is she going to be okay?" Aria asked, nibbling her plump bottom lip.

"Would you be okay, Aria?" Emily asked. "I mean, if this happened to you?" Her voice sounded high to her own ears. She also sounded angry and she realized that she was. _Incredibly so._ How could someone hurt her dear friend like this?

Spencer brushed an errant lock of Hanna's blonde hair off her face. "She looks awful," she said. "When she wakes up and sees what this monster did to her…"

"But _who_ did it?" Emily asked. "Do you think –"

"That it was A?" Spencer said. "There's a good possibility that it was." She sighed and then her eyes flooded with tears too. "But if A did this that means - God, they are just getting worse and worse. This is a new low, even for them."

"And if it wasn't 'A'?" Aria piped up. Emily and Spencer immediately turned questioning eyes on her. "What if it was just horrible, random thing or maybe … Maybe…" Her voice trailed off.

"What?" Emily asked. "What are you thinking?"

"Never mind," she said, crossing her arms.

"Now is not the time to be coy, Aria," Spencer said. "What are you thinking?"

Aria shrugged helplessly. "I hate to even think it but what – what if it was Travis?"

Emily felt her eyes bug out and Spencer stared disbelievingly at Aria as well. "Why would he do that?" Spencer asked.

"Well, sadly, you hear about these kinds of things happening on all the time. What if he got … handsy and Hanna …"

Spencer shook her head. "No. He was the one to bring Hanna here, right Em?" She looked at Emily for confirmation. Emily simply nodded. "So if he attacked her, he wouldn't bring her around. He would want to be as far away from this as possible."

"It was just a suggestion," Aria said, looking at her hands. "I mean, what do we know about him - really? He happened into Hanna's life just when she was at her most fragile…"

"No," Emily said, finally finding her voice. "No way. He couldn't have done this. I saw his face when he pulled up with Hanna. He looked … like I feel."

"But –"

"No buts, Aria," Emily said resolutely, "he didn't do it. He might have even saved her life."

"Okay, okay," Aria said. "I just want an explanation for this horrible thing. I want to make sense of it."

"We all do," Spencer said.

"But if it was A, that just means they are getting more terrifying. Who knows what horrible thing they will do next. Who knows what horrible thing they already did to Hanna," Aria whispered.

Spencer nodded. "We won't know anything until she wakes up."

"I am afraid what she will tell us," Aria said quietly as she crawled onto the bed and leaned heavily against Spencer.

"Me too," Emily admitted.

"Me three," Spencer said.


End file.
